Spell Booked (Retired Witches Mysteries Series Book 1) (23 page)

“Are you okay, Molly?” Elsie asked.

“I’m fine.” Brian helped me to my feet. “I’ve never felt that kind of strength or malevolence from a witch before. How will we ever take Dorothy from her?”

We were all silent on the way back to Brian’s apartment. There was nothing else we knew to try that night. We agreed to meet back at Smuggler’s Arcane again tomorrow night, hoping Elsie’s full magic—with mine and Brian’s—would be able to make the locator spell work.

Elsie sagged in the front seat beside me. Her head rolled on her shoulders as she fell asleep.

I’d talked Olivia into staying behind at the shop. I knew she’d be safe there. I wasn’t so sure about anywhere else.

“I hope Elsie will be okay,” Brian said when he got out of the car at his place.

“I’m sure she will,” I said with a smile. “Thanks for your help. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”

I watched him walk away into the thick mist that had come up after the rain had stopped. I fought with myself to keep from breaking down and crying.

I didn’t know if Elsie would be okay. I could only hope. I didn’t know if Dorothy would survive the night. My world was falling apart. I was terrified.

I closed my eyes and held on to my amulets before I left the parking lot. I needed all the strength I could muster.

Elsie woke when I parked the car at her house and went around to the other side to help her out.

“You know it will be a miracle if we pull this off,” she told me as we walked up to her house. “Even when we were in our prime, the most complex spells we ever did were keeping our cars clean and grading school papers.”

“I guess we’re both having a midlife crisis.”

“Midlife?” Elsie laughed. “I’m not prepared to live another seventy years. This is fine for you and Dorothy—even Olivia if she hadn’t died. I’m a lot older than you, Molly. I’m not sure I’m up for it.”

I smiled and touched her hand. “You were the most powerful witch in Wilmington at one time. Your worst is probably better than most witches’ best.”

She rolled her eyes. “Flattery will get you everywhere. I’m not saying I won’t try. I hate being the weakest link.”

“I think you have some untapped strength. You’ll just have to call on it.”

“Can I call long distance?” She smiled as we reached her front door. “I thought I’d be in Boca right now. Who knew all this other stuff would happen?”

“You said you aren’t sure about retiring,” I reminded her. “Maybe this is your kick in the pants.”

“Maybe so.” She gazed up at the stars. “I feel terrible being the reason we have to leave Dorothy out there.”

“I know. Tomorrow, we’ll try again.”

“And the council?”

“Maybe they’ll thank us for finding the witch they’re afraid of.”

“Fat chance!” Her smile trembled on her lips. “Good night, Molly.”

I drove home, knowing I still had to conjure up another bubble to tell Joe what was going on. I wasn’t looking forward to it.

I parked and went inside. The smell of pizza assailed my senses. I dropped my bag and jacket on a stool. I was starving, but not hungry enough for cold pizza. A person could only eat so much pizza. I found some milk and cereal and took out a bowl.

“There you are.” Joe came into the kitchen with an uncomfortable look at Mike lying on the sofa playing video games. “I was wondering if you were ever going to get home. Let’s go in the bedroom.”

I left my cereal untouched and went into the bedroom with him.

He locked the door. “Haven’t had to do that in years. It used to be a big thing when Mike was little.”

“It was,” I agreed with a smile. “We’ve been spoiled since he went away to college.”

“It won’t be long before he’s done with school and has his own place. Then we can canoodle in the kitchen, if you like.”

“Canoodle, huh?”

He kissed me and whispered, “I’m a nervous wreck about this whole magic-bubble thing, Molly. Can we get it over with?”

I invoked the enchanted bubble again. Our words were protected from the ears of the witches’ council. I explained again how dangerous it would be for them to find out that he knew about magic.

“Whatever you have to say has to wait for us to be in the right place to discuss it.” I took his hand. “You can never mention that you know about magic, even casually, without the shield. I don’t want to lose you.”

“I guess these people don’t play around, huh? You know, it’s hard to get used to the idea that my wife is a real-life witch. I’ll make sure I keep a low profile.”

“I’m sorry it has to be this way. What happened tonight?”

Joe explained how they found a videotape of Olivia and Brian walking into a bar together. “I couldn’t believe you were there with him when we went to pick him up.”

“Brian is a witch too. He’s helping Elsie, Olivia and me try to find Dorothy.”

“Olivia?”

“She’s come back as a ghost—probably only until we find her killer. The killer is a powerful witch, Joe. You have to stall until the Grand Council of Witches can deal with her. If you try to take her with just you and Lisbet, you’ll both be killed.”

I also explained that Dorothy had been kidnapped by the rogue witch.

“Maybe that’s something I can help with,” he said.

“No. You have to stay away from this. You don’t understand what’s involved.”

He nodded. “Okay. We have some clues that we can look into. That could keep us busy, I guess. The ME found some black fibers on Olivia’s body. Some were lodged under her fingernails and in the wound on her neck. We think the fibers came from something her killer was wearing.”

“What kind of black fibers?”

“Polyester and cotton with rayon. The ME thinks it could’ve been a ski mask, disguising the killer’s face. That might mean that Olivia knew who killed her. Even though she was killed from behind, the killer may have wanted to be extra cautious.”

“Just take it nice and slow. Don’t be in a hurry. Give us a chance to find Dorothy and notify the council.”

He didn’t look happy about that. “Magic or not, Molly, I don’t like the idea of you going toe-to-toe with a killer. You said Olivia was a witch too, but whoever it was killed her anyway. Is there some way I can be around when you bring the killer out?”

“You don’t have to worry. All we plan to do is keep him or her in one place for someone from the council to take care of. If they don’t actually take him somewhere else, maybe they’ll render him harmless so you can arrest him.”

“Warlock, right? A male witch is called a warlock.”

“No, sweetie. A male witch is still a witch.”

“Okay. Not happy with this setup, but I guess you know what’s best when it comes to witches.” He frowned. “Mike isn’t a witch, is he? Does it run in families?”

“It does run in families, but it passed him by. I’m glad in some ways.”

“Well, let me know if I can do anything to help. I kind of feel a little useless right now. Do you have some way to protect yourself?”

“We do have protections,” I assured him. “I think we’ll be okay.”

“I love you, Molly. Be careful. I’d rather you be alive than care what your council thinks about me knowing you’re a witch. Remember that.”

“I will.” I kissed him. “I love you too.”

I dispersed the enchanted bubble. Like Joe, I wished it could be out in the open too, but that wasn’t the way the council wanted it.

“So, pizza again tonight, huh?” He grinned.

I shuddered. “Not for me. I’m eating cereal.”

We went back into the living room. Mike had gone to bed. I hated that our relationship had been so strained. I’d been so caught up in everything else going on that I hadn’t been able to talk with him about school. That was going to have to change.

I missed Isabelle’s presence in the house. She added a calming factor that always soothed my jangled nerves. I knew I’d be glad when this whole nightmare was finished and my life could get back to normal. I wasn’t cut out for intrigue.

My heart ached for the old days and for the loss of Olivia. Even though she was a ghost, I couldn’t pick up the phone for a late-night gab session. We couldn’t go shopping and laugh as we tried on clothes we would never really wear outside the dressing room.

I realized that my life was never going back to normal again. Those days were gone.

I tried again to remove the amulet. The stubborn clasp wouldn’t budge. I looked at it in the bathroom mirror, wishing it had come with instructions.

“Come to bed,” Joe called.

I went in, and we cuddled until he fell asleep. I knew there wouldn’t be any sleep for me that night. I faced the blackness with eyes wide open, hoping we’d find Dorothy the next day.

I invoke the power of the universe.

I call on every known source of help.

Guide me in this time of trouble.

Lift my eyes to see the light!

I picked Elsie up in the morning, as I had countless other mornings on my way to Smuggler’s Arcane. She’d brought homemade shortbread cookies with her, but she’d been able to sleep for a while too. Her magic felt stronger.

We got to the shop to find Olivia and all three cats waiting by the front door.

“Oh, girls, I’m so glad you’re back! It’s been the longest night waiting and worrying about Dorothy. If I weren’t already dead, I would be now. I don’t know how I’m going to survive waiting until midnight to find her.”

“We’ll be stronger then, and there will be less human interference,” I reminded her. “We don’t want to try and fail again.”

Elsie made tea and put the cookies on the table. “I don’t know about the two of you, but I’m thirsty and starving.”

I fed the cats. They were nervous and fidgety. It’s always hard being away from home and following unfamiliar routines. I assured them that it would be over soon as I stroked Harper and Isabelle. Barnabas pestered Elsie for attention. I would do in a pinch, but while she was there, he only had eyes for her.

Hemlock still didn’t like or trust anyone but Dorothy. He hissed and drew away when I tried to touch him. I left him alone.

The three of us sat down for orange spice tea and shortbread cookies.

“You know”—Olivia hovered over her empty cup and saucer—“it’s odd that you can be dead and still feel physical things like hunger and exhaustion. I wonder if that goes away with time.”

“Maybe it’s like phantom limb pain.” Elsie picked up a cookie. “People feel their amputated legs and arms long after they’re gone. You have phantom hunger pains.”

Olivia looked longingly at the cookies. “You know, the one thing that puzzles me is why anyone would want our old spells.”

“Excuse me?” Elsie interrupted.

“I don’t mean it like that.” Olivia’s form fluctuated a little with her agitation. “You know what I mean. Our magic has never been anything special. Even our mothers’ and grandmothers’ spells were all about avoiding storms and making children happy. Why would this horrid, powerful witch the council is afraid of want it?”

“Olivia has a point.” Elsie munched as she spoke. “Why does she want it, Molly?”

“Maybe it doesn’t matter what the spells are.” I was only guessing. I didn’t understand either.

“Well, if I were going to steal someone’s book, I’d want it to have great spells in it like disappearing and shape-shifting. A spell like refilling a flat tire would be meaningless to me.” Olivia swirled through the shop.

“Unless it didn’t matter because it was just one magic item out of dozens, and I was going for quantity.” Elsie dunked her cookie in her tea.

I stopped eating my cookie and pushed back my chair. “That’s true of the witch, but what about her accomplice?”

“We don’t know for sure that the witch has one, do we?” Olivia asked.

“You know,” Elsie said, “a few years back, when I was a teenager, there was a group of thieves that stole similar things for their collections.”

“A
few
years back?” Olivia hooted. “I’d say that’s more than a
few
years.”

“You know what I mean.” Elsie waved her hand. “Don’t make me turn you into a puff of smoke.”

“As if you could do that,” Olivia taunted her.

“Ladies, I think we may be onto something. We know there’s a black market for magical items. Maybe that’s what’s feeding the accomplice. Finding that person could lead us to the witch.”

“How would we figure that out?” Olivia asked.

“We could go out to Oak Island and see the Bone Man.”

Elsie clapped her hands. “Road trip!”

“Oh you silly goose!” Olivia said. “Oak Island isn’t that far at all, if you don’t count the ferry ride.”

The Bone Man was a trader between the worlds of magic and mundane. He wasn’t a witch or any other magical creature—at least not as far as I knew. He was a dealer in magical items that were hard to get for witches. We’d bought unusual things from him several times before.

“They say his mother was a witch, and his father was a pirate,” Olivia said. “He’s got the
worst
reputation—and the sexiest eyes I’ve ever seen.”

“The council frowns on him,” Elsie warned. “We’re not supposed to have dealings with him.”

Right now, the council frowns on
everything
we do anyway,” I reminded her.

“Better bring the cookies then, Molly.” Elsie snatched them from me. “Is there still a thermos here that we can put tea in?”

“Dealing with the Bone Man can be very dangerous.” I picked up my handbag. “We have to keep our wits about us.”

“Don’t lose hope.” Olivia flitted around the room like a fairy. “Be careful.”

“You’re going too.” I grabbed her staff. “What have we got that we can take to him for a trade? I have a few things in my bag.” I went through it. “Joe found a real silver half dollar that I’ve kept with me for a while. I have a broken gold bracelet that belonged to my grandmother. I had been thinking about turning it into cash.”

“He’ll want your amulet, Molly,” Olivia pointed out. “The way Cassandra and Mr. Brannigan went after it last night, it must be very valuable. I’m sorry I told you to wear it. I think it was a mistake.”

I shuddered. “He can have it if he can get it off without
touching
me!”

“You’d give that up?” Elsie asked.

“To save Dorothy—yes!”

Olivia said, “You know, I left my old diamond ring behind the counter when I washed my hands the day I was murdered. You could take that with you to trade.”

I got the ring and put it into my bag. There was no way to know what the Bone Man might want for the information we needed.

“I still have my old gold crown that fell out of my tooth a month ago.” Elsie took it out of her big green bag and looked at it. “The dentist didn’t want it. I should’ve known it was a warning of trouble to come.”

“Eww!”
Olivia scrunched her face.

“I have a few other things.” Elsie started putting them on the table. “A shark’s tooth, and an old, dried lizard that my daughter found behind the sofa. Poor thing must’ve gotten trapped back there.” She showed us the flat, dried lizard. “I’ve also got a snail shell and a piece of fool’s gold. Maybe one of those would interest him.”

“Does anyone remember what we traded for the dodo feather?” Olivia asked.

“It was a whole bag of toenail clippings,” I answered. “Remember, he wanted clippings from dead men’s toenails. We had to sneak into the hospital morgue using Joe’s police pass to get them.”

“Oh,
yes
! We needed an extinct bird’s feather to make that potion for the woman who was being haunted by her amorous husband’s ghost.” Elsie smiled at the memory. “The good old days.”

“Except that Joe got called about going into the morgue. He didn’t know what was going on. He never suspected it was us, thank goodness. I think he always thought it was a prank that Mike and his friends did.”

Elsie kept rooting around behind the counter until she found a travel mug for her tea. “I’m ready to go. Molly, I’ll let
you
do the talking.”